In Friday’s Washington Post, state legislators Scott Surovell and Linda Puller published an op ed attacking Question 1,
the eminent domain reform referendum question that Virginians will vote
on in November. Unfortunately, their arguments are off-base, and some
are seriously misleading.

Question 1 would amend Virginia’s Constitution to forbid economic development takings of the kind the US Supreme Court allowed in Kelo v. City of New London.
Such takings often enable powerful interest groups to use the power of
eminent domain to transfer property to themselves at the expense of the
politically weak; they also tend to destroy more economic value than
they create. If adopted by the voters, Question 1 would provide some
important protection against such abuses.